Hog + Ice Spirit Combo – Struggle Battles Are Coming!

With the debut of Ice Spirit in the July patch, the meta has shifted in an unexpected way. In this guide I will introduce you guys a new version of Hog Cycle deck, including the Hog + Ice Spirit combo. Take a look!

Overview: With a level 7 Hog, level 9 common cards and no Legendary card, this Hog Cycle deck got to the top 5 in a recent 600 players Tournament. With the old but gold strategy, winning by cycling fast around different cards and gain elixir advantage, this Hog + Ice Spirit deck would be painful for those encountering this combo. Let’s have some insight of this deck’s playstyle

Hog + Ice Spirit Deck Offensive Strategy

You should do some small pushes in early game. My favorite combos are Hog + Minions (7 elixir), Ice Spirit + Valkyrie (5 elixir), Hog + Ice Spirit (5 elixir). Nevertheless, don’t spend too much in your push. Your aim is not to knock your opponent out earlier, but to know what they are using to respond your attack. However, it would not be unexpected if you can deal around 1000 – 1500 damage to your opponent, especially when they make a greedy play or have unappropriate cards in-hand.

Hog decks have numerous counters to them (buildings/high DPS troops such as Barbarians, Mini Pekka, Valkyrie, Minion Horde). Your task is to try different combos to see if they work. For example, in the second match in the video below, our opponent has Barbarians, Ice Wizard and Zap, so the Hog + Minions combo cannot be effective at all. Instead, you must defend and trade off elixir effectively, then execute counter push with Valkyrie + Hog, alongside Ice Spirit to maximize the success chance, and prepare Zap to counter their Barbarians. Read more Counter Push Guide here.

Ice Spirit takes a fundamental role in this deck. Drop it down behind Hog and Valkyrie to prevent enemy’s troops/towers from taking actions.

Poison can be used in both offense and defense. Hog + Poison combo once dominated the pro scenes, so do not hesitate to use it! We can also utilize Poison to lower down building’s health, especially Elixir Pump.

Hog + Ice Spirit Deck Defensive Strategy

Core defensive units: Valkyrie + Ice Spirit + Tesla + Minions.

However, it is a different story when it comes to Royal Giant. You need to distract him at all cost as he can deal massive damage to your tower when he is still on the bridge. Tesla is the key here, it can not only distract big units, but can also weaken air units.

Against Princess and Ice Wizard, you can consider to put down Poison spell to eliminate them as they are super annoying.

Ice Spirit is great in defense, as it only costs 1 elixir and can freeze for 2 seconds! You can use it to stop the Royal Giant hitting your tower, or delay the push.

Use Zap to counter Miner/Mini Pekka/Minion Horde as these troops are deadly when being left alone.

Hog + Ice Spirit Deck Tips

Elixir Pump should be placed whenever available and possible. This will allow you to cycle faster and put more pressure on enemy’s lane. However, you should place it between 2 Arena Towers to make your opponent hesitate to attack it by Poison/Fireball/Miner, as our King Tower will be activated, contributing to the defense power.

Beatdown deck player actually show their hand cards quite easily even if they have not deployed the Tank, as you can make a prediction from his big support troops and the place spot. In that case, you should start a push on the other lane. Read the Double Lane Pressure guide and Battle Deck Archetype.

Hog + Ice Spirit Deck Video

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